Pitkin County board appoints chief deputy as interim clerk and recorder
Pitkin County commissioners on Tuesday named the county’s chief deputy clerk and recorder to replace her boss, Janice Vos Caudill, who is retiring at the end of the month.
Ingrid Grueter will serve out the remaining nine months of Vos Caudill’s fourth term in office, beginning April 1. Grueter was one of three candidates who applied for the interim job, though she was the only one who, so far, has filed to run for Pitkin County clerk and recorder in the upcoming November election.
“We’ve had some feedback that employees in the Clerk and Recorder’s Office would like Ingrid to be our choice to be clerk and recorder,” Commissioner Steve Child said. “I put a lot of emphasis on what her fellow employees are feeling about her.”
The three other commissioners who participated in the decision Tuesday also voted to appoint Grueter, who has served as Vos Caudill’s chief deputy for the last four years. However, all four participating commissioners also praised Robin Jacober, a teacher and small-business owner who also interviewed for the job last week.
“Robin’s interview was exceptional,” Board Chairwoman Patti Clapper said. “She was articulate and has a great presence around her.”
Jacober is daughter-in-law to Commissioner Francie Jacober, who did not participate in the clerk and recorder interview and appointment process.
All four participating commissioners urged Robin Jacober to file to run for the clerk and recorder job in November.
A third candidate who was interviewed last week, J.P. Strait, did not provide references commissioners asked for and while he did not technically withdraw from consideration, commissioners did not talk about him Tuesday as a replacement for Vos Caudill. Clapper said she spoke with Strait and that he would be considering other Pitkin County employment options in the future.
Commissioner Kelly McNicholas Kury, who served as elections manager in the Clerk and Recorder’s Office before she was elected to the board, said she thought Jacober would be “more skilled” as head of the office, though Grueter possessed more knowledge of how the office is run.
Still, McNicholas Kury said Grueter has more to learn.
“I don’t think Ingrid has leaned in to learning all the ins and outs of (the election process),” McNicholas Kury said. “Now’s her chance. But I do hope Robin will run because I think she has a lot of strengths, as well.”
Vos Caudill, who never faced competition for the job in the four elections in which she ran, announced her resignation in January. Clapper said she’d like Vos Caudill to stick around even after her retirement and help out to smooth the transition.
A message left Tuesday for Grueter seeking comment was not returned.
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